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1 – 10 of 64Jonathan P. Livesey FRCS, Phillip Berry, Thomas Cossham, Dominic Hodgson and Jonathan P. Monk
Lost X‐ray films waste time, delay treatment, and may necessitate a patient being exposed to further radiation. Audit of a 132‐bed orthopaedic and trauma department over a…
Abstract
Lost X‐ray films waste time, delay treatment, and may necessitate a patient being exposed to further radiation. Audit of a 132‐bed orthopaedic and trauma department over a 2‐month period showed that 16 patients' X‐ray films were lost. Fifteen (93%) had been stored in anonymous polythene packets. Only 5 (31%) were found within half an hour, and a mean of 67 minutes' working time was occupied locating each one. Recognition of why and where they were lost reduced the number of losses.
Edi Suandi, Herri Herri, Yulihasri Yulihasri and Syafrizal Syafrizal
This paper aims to investigate the influence of Islamic marketing ethics and convergence marketing on competitive advantage and bank performance.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the influence of Islamic marketing ethics and convergence marketing on competitive advantage and bank performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on a survey of 204 Indonesian branch managers from the Islamic banking industry. Results were produced with the partial least square approach.
Findings
Results revealed that Islamic marketing ethics and convergence marketing have sufficient confidence to have significant influences on competitive advantage, producing a positive association with a competitive advantage. However, Islamic marketing ethics and convergence marketing did not influence bank performance directly. Competitive advantage positively mediated the relationship. Furthermore, organizational digital literacy did not moderate the relationship between convergence marketing and bank performance.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to the conceptualization of convergence marketing and the identification of its effects on competitive advantage and bank performance. The identification of convergence marketing in this dissertation contains dimensions of mobile, security, foreign currency, holistic and interactivity as different aspects from the steps of Islamic banks to digitize their services to the internet in a single application. The results also indicate that convergence marketing does not have a direct effect on bank performance but has an indirect effect through competitive advantage. Convergence marketing must first create a bank advantage over its competitors to have a good effect on bank performance.
Practical implications
This study offers many opportunities for Islamic bank marketers to improve performance. Many Islamic banks currently do not implement Islamic marketing ethics consistently and thoroughly. The results of this study encourage Islamic banks by showing that the more intensive and consistent they are in implementing Islamic marketing ethics, the better their competitive advantage and the higher the performance. This effort can be done in various ways, such as offering tariffs/ratios of services transparently to customers, not exaggerating the benefits of the products offered to distort customer expectations, building brands that can strengthen customer confidence in Islamic banks and only offering products and services with high-quality standards.
Limitation and future research
This study uses a sample of Islamic banking so that it is still limited to certain types of banks. Future research needs to conduct model testing in different contexts such as conventional banking. In addition, further research needs to use the capabilities or capabilities of bank IT as a moderator in the effect of convergence marketing on bank performance. Future research also needs to control for more variables and use a scale that is more complex than the binary scale (for example, the percentage of share ownership or territory in the scope of the province or district/city).
Originality/value
This research views the Islamic bank competitiveness through the lenses of Islamic ethical theory and convergence marketing theory.
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Zaimah Abdullah, Mohd Hisham Mohd Sharif, Ram Al Jaffri Saad, Arifatul Husna Mohd Ariff, Md Hairi Md Hussain and Mohd Herry Mohd Nasir
This paper aims to explore the factors of social media adoption by zakat institutions.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the factors of social media adoption by zakat institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses qualitative data as the main source of evidence. Data were collected using semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Ten respondents from eight zakat institutions across Malaysia were interviewed. Judgement sampling and snowballing techniques were used to select respondents. Data analysis was done in three phases, namely, data reduction, data display and conclusion confirmation.
Findings
The findings of this study found perceived benefits, ease of use, accessibility, formalization, training, management push and indirect public push to be the determinant factors that contribute to the adoption of a social media application in zakat institutions. They are discussed and organized into a few groups under four categories, namely, technological, organizational and environmental contexts based on the TOE framework.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge in technology adoption understanding with the engagement of a range of Technology Organization Environment (TOE) framework. However, for future research, quantitative data involving the zakat payers should be anticipated to further understand the issue.
Practical implications
Output from this study may be useful to the adoption champions within zakat institutions, such as decision-makers and marketing officers. These people can help to provide guidelines and steer managers to focus on the identified factors in this study when adopting social media.
Social implications
The finding from this study may help to increase the efficiency of two-way communication between zakat institutions and the community. It was found that the adoption of social media improved communication activities with the public and better handling of negative perceptions towards zakat institutions. The findings proved that using social media applications in zakat institutions can help create a better organizational image for the public by publishing instant and continuous news feeds on activities that specifically cater to the need of the asnaf. This can alleviate negative perceptions that zakat institutions are only good in collecting money, but not effective in helping the poor.
Originality/value
Previous zakat literature has focussed on different issues such as the determinants of zakat compliance behaviors, zakat fund management, distribution of funds, zakat information system and digital marketing; however, little is known about how and why zakat institutions adopt social media applications as a communication tool with the public. Thus, this research makes a difference by focussing on a new aspect of study in the zakat environment, which aims to explore the factors of social media adoption by zakat institutions. This study also proposes the new appropriate TOE framework to understand the adoption behaviour by the zakat institution towards social media application.
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Birgit Kohla and Michael Meschik
Purpose — In order to analyse applicability, comparability and limitations of GPS technology in travel surveys, different mobility survey techniques were tested in an…
Abstract
Purpose — In order to analyse applicability, comparability and limitations of GPS technology in travel surveys, different mobility survey techniques were tested in an Austrian pilot study.
Methodology/approach — Four groups of voluntary respondents recorded their travel behaviour over a time period of three consecutive days. The groups were assigned to three different and combined methods of data collection: Paper–pencil trip diaries, passive GPS tracking, active GPS tracking and prompted recall interviews.
Findings — The resulting mobility parameters show that self-reported paper– pencil surveys yield accurate sociodemographic information on the respondents as well as trip purposes and modes of transportation, although too few trips are reported. Passive GPS-based methods minimize the strain for respondents. Methods that combine GPS-based data collection and questionnaire provide the most reliable mobility data at the moment.
Research limitations/implications — Due to funding restrictions the sample sizes had to be relatively small (235 participants). Further development in research methodology will increase the effectiveness of automated data analysis, for example more accurate detection of activities and transport modes. The usefulness of GPS-based data collection in a large-scale surveys is planned to be tested in the next Austrian national travel survey.
Originality/value of paper — The pilot study allows a detailed comparison of traditional and GPS-based travel survey methods for the first time, due to data collection combined with prompted recalls.
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Ngapuli I. Sinisuka and Herry Nugraha
The purpose of this paper is to study the life cycle cost (LCC) on the operation of power generation. LCC is the total cost of ownership including the cost of the project…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the life cycle cost (LCC) on the operation of power generation. LCC is the total cost of ownership including the cost of the project or asset acquisition, operation and maintenance, and disposal. LCC includes both deterministic costs (such as acquisition costs, improvement costs and disposal costs) and probabilistic (such as the costs of failure, repairs, spare parts, downtime, lost gross margin). Most of the probabilistic costs are associated directly with the reliability and maintenance characteristics of the system.
Design/methodology/approach
To be able to analyze failure data using appropriate cost profile in order to represent the fact that each failure has different prices, in different time periods at an economical cycle the new methodology of LCCA Diagram is proposed. Developing criticality ranking of sub‐system, calculating values of Weibull Shape Factor β and Weibull Characteristic Life η for each sub‐system, calculating the time to failure of sub‐system, calculating the mean time to failure of sub‐system using Monte Carlo simulation, determining several alternatives, failure mode and effects analysis and root cause failure analysis are parts of the methodology.
Findings
To give a sample of case study, the LCC on the operation of coal fired power plant (CFPP) 330 MW is analyzed. Five alternatives calculation of LCC will be simulated. Graph of cash flow, break‐even graph, and graph of cost/benefit versus risk made for a period of 30 years can be used to asses an effective management program and costs of power plant with a low risk.
Originality/value
The paper suggests that LCC can be used to asses an effective management program and costs of power plant with a low risk.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of product innovation on the relation between the knowledge management and competitive advantage. To analyze…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of product innovation on the relation between the knowledge management and competitive advantage. To analyze the effect of knowledge management on innovation, the effect of knowledge management on competitive advantage and the effect of innovation on competitive advantage in small and medium enterprises in food products are taken into account.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach used in this study was quantitative approach. The population in this study was all the small and medium entrepreneurs of typical food products of Riau and Central Java Indonesia, which consisted of 238 business units: secondary data of Industry, Trade and Cooperative Service and SME Riau and Central Java Province at 2016. The data analysis method was structural equation modeling, using three measurement models (reflection of three research variables, equivalent to the first-order factor analysis).
Findings
Product innovation mediated the effect of knowledge management on the competitive advantage. It indicated that the higher the knowledge management, the higher the competitive advantage would be, if mediated by higher product innovation. The test results showed that knowledge management had positive and significant effect on product innovation. The positive effect showed that the better the knowledge management by the entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises of typical food products of Riau, the better is the product innovation and vice versa.
Originality/value
This paper examines the mediating effects (using Sobel test) of product innovation on the relation between knowledge management and competitive advantage (no previous research on this relation), and the study is conducted on SMEs in Indonesia, especially in Riau and Central Java provinces. Previous studies on knowledge management and other factors affecting competitive advantage are also mostly performed on smaller samples, that is in one work unit or department. Although the variables were the same, this study was conducted on different sample units.
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Azhar Abdul Rahman, Mohd Azlan Yahya and Mohd Herry Mohd Nasir
The purpose of this paper is to compare the criteria used among Islamic Indices, specifically between the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Shari'ah Index (KLSESI) and the Dow…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare the criteria used among Islamic Indices, specifically between the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Shari'ah Index (KLSESI) and the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (DJIM) in screening a permissible company for investment purposes. The two controversial criteria examined are: level of debt and level of liquidity of company.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper investigates the 642 companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia in 2006 as approved Shariah's compliant companies by the Shari'ah Advisory Council of the KLSE.
Findings
Overall, the results reveal that the KLSESI does not use both the criteria set by the DJIM as its measures during the screening process. As for the level of debt criterion, the results show that 44.07 percent of the companies listed under the KLSESI are highly geared. These companies depend heavily on debt to finance their capital. However, the results for the level of liquidity criterion are not as extreme as the level of debt where it shows only 17 percent of the companies listed under the KLSESI are highly liquid. The results also indicate that if both criteria are compared concurrently, only 198 out of 565 companies listed under the KLSESI conform to the criteria set up by the DJIM.
Research limitations/implications
The main reasons why the differences exist among Islamic Indices are due to micro‐factor as faced by Malaysian companies such as the limited amount of capital resources. The Shari'ah supervisory board of the respective indices represents the sole body that determines the rules or criteria to be used by each index. This explains why the indices differ from one country to another and efforts should be done by regulators in the respective countries to harmonize the differing criteria used.
Originality/value
The paper represents the first study that compares the criteria used by two different indices regarding Islamic capital investment in a developing country.
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Abstract
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A LIBRARIAN in training “somewhere in England” sends us the following: Before I set out to be a soldier, I sketched out the plan of a vast work which was to record my…
Abstract
A LIBRARIAN in training “somewhere in England” sends us the following: Before I set out to be a soldier, I sketched out the plan of a vast work which was to record my impressions of life in the ranks and narrate (in the grand manner of Napier) my adventures on active service; a work which would, I believed, become a classic of intimate revelation, as well as a chronicle as gripping as the “Seven Pillars.” Needless to say, before I had been many days in a barrackroom I abandoned the scheme: or rather, the project took flight of its own accord. For I found that, though there was much to write about, and a good deal that might make interesting reading, the power to step out of myself to observe and describe failed completely. The struggle between the individual and the military machine resulted in the rout of the former's defences. I could not think and create, but only think and obey. The writing of epics, I reflected, was not consistent with the life of a man mentally bound. So I fell back on the never‐failing anodyne, my oldest ally, reading.